Beer #133 - Magic Rock / Common Grounds

BREWERY // In mid-2012 Richard Burhouse was running an online craft beer subscription club called MyBreweryTap when he decided to start Magic Rock Brewery. A year after brewing commenced, the club had been sold and the new brewery declared '2nd Best New Brewery in the World' on RateBeer. The Huddersfield brewery recently celebrated its 6th birthday having seen astonishing growth in those first years. Burhouse and head brewer, Stuart Ross, were inspired by the big, fresh, hop-forward American beers from the likes of Stone and they are exactly what they brew. Magic Rock are known for big IPA's but they seemingly can't go wrong whatever style they turn to. Their Bearded Lady Grand Marnier (a 10.5% chocolate orange Imperial Brown Stout) is heaven in a glass. Richard worked as a graphic designer for a decade before the Magic started which may explain the frankly awesome branding and can design.

BEER //If you're not a coffee fan, you may want to swap this week's beer with a friend... Chances are you love coffee though, in our (non-scientific) research we've found the majority of people who love good beer are also fond of a good old cup o' joe. Common Grounds is a collaboration with Huddersfield coffee roaster Dark Woods who worked with the brewery to blend 7 different coffees with particular emphases on "flavours such as chocolate/toffee/marshmallow/nuts/fruit/vanilla rather than just a harsh roasted coffee flavour". The result isn't as one dimensional as you might expect from a Triple Coffee Porter. The medium bodied porter is host to a wide variety of aromas and flavours from cocoa, molasses and fudge to vanilla, blackcurrant and figs. Also coffee.

To read more about the coffee varieties and the recipe, see the Magic Rock blog.